Generational Differences

We're really starting to notice them, aren't we?

If less than 10% of your e-commerce sales come from mobile devices, you're serving the traditional baby boomer generation (Judy).

If more than 25% of your e-commerce sales come from mobile devices, you're likely serving a much younger generation (Jasmine).

All of the hype you read about (mobile, social, local, big data) serves Jasmine.

Some of the hype you read about (omnichannel) serves Jennifer.

Almost nobody pays attention to Judy anymore, except for companies that are generating 10% pre-tax profit by marketing to her.  They don't care what the pundits say, they just enjoy running a profitable business.

Nobody's business model is "dead" ... the next five years are going to be about identifying a customer audience, then catering to that audience.  The biggest differences are now generational in nature.  Yes, I get it, a 27 year old sometimes shops catalogs, and that 59 year old sometimes pulls out an iPad at an airport to purchase smoked salmon.  Holistically, however, it's a generational deal, and we as marketers have to pick who our target customer is going to be.  We can't be "omnichannel", because individual customers are not "omnichannel".  

Omnichannel is what we see when we average Judy, Jennifer, and Jasmine.